The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-05-21
a CHINESE ExEcuT1oNEn.
no Shows His Tools and Tells About His
n. AKA ;Fllt DloOdy Trade, '7s-9. IT.,

a correspondent OF the London Pail Mall
Gazette, who has been making tour Of the
city Of Canton, In China, writes During
otlr mcandcrings in the city our ears were
assaulted with tho Chinese synonym Of tho
Egyptian baksecsh cry, till tho cavcrns Of
our brains rcsoundcd and echoed with it.
"Cumshnw cumshaw r. yelled immature
posscssors OF piEails, and mature posscssors
echoed the sound wherever We went. When
the youngsters requests weso not compiled
with, they, atlcr little, invariably, changed
their cry to "Fanqua fanqua|s {foregn
devil, foreign deviD. We marched into
mandarin's office 10 the nc.
compartment Of tho 4 cumshaw tune.
Hero We were shown tho instru.
mepts whereby bamboo chow chow Is given
to tho nadal callositics OF the wicked, also
ntans md short blndgcons for shipping
the faces Of untruthful witnesses, thumb.
screws and racks for. exacting confessions
(no criminal can be executed according to
the laws Of China until he has confessed his
crime), canquls, a species of collar which for
largcncss and observation-disclosures even out
strip the Washers, and which nre rectangu-
lar planes Of wood with neck and handholes.
The gloomy, small dcpository.room of these
torture implements we thought to be fair
representation Of what n European medieval
chamber Of 'justice'' Inns been. a 571T.T q
We were next taken In our sedan chairs
through IN ovcrcrowdcd busy part OF the city
to tho execution ground. We found 1t to DO
small inc!osed rectangular space, about
fifteen yards by fifty, entered by d gate. Here
our guido introduced lis TO three poorly
dressed Cinnamon, whom we noticed gam.
bling ut q fun tan table near the cute on our
arrival. One, a big, brutish.looking fellow
with yillainous cast in ono Of his ewes, was
the head cxecutioner, and the other two, who
were smallish men, were his assistants,
Through our guide VIC told the head cxecu.
toner that We wished to see the instruments
Of his calling, and thereon he produced, o
long knife. The following conversation was
carried on with the cxecutioncr through tie
medium Of our guide: az 81
the block 2" s35 r ! 5S-is ! 80
Two dom. use block. What We do is to
make the prisoners kneel down in two rows
facing one another, and bending their heads
down. Then l take the sword, and chop
chop one on each side md the heads fall Oft:
50 on, till they're all done, rs you'd switch
the tops Of green weeds with your. walking.
.. ."Dut you don't 9, always chop head off
always" sfci =!
.NYhat Is tho knife for ?"
For tho ling che, or death by many cuts.
We tic the culprit who is condemned to this
death to that cross there (pointing to two
rough Embarked sticks roughly crosscd), and
we commence by cutting off the eyeelids
ears, nose and SO on. ending by sticking the
knife into the heart. The cuts vary in num-.
Der from eight to hundred and twenty, nc
cordinE to the Nervousness Of the cuiprit's
What class Of criminals are condemned
to the ling chez r. .. $40 57,5I7a
"Parricides. matricides, and women who
have Killed and mutilated their husbands
form the majority" g gga,:s'9'
"Do the executions interfere with your mn
petite and sleep?' i'Es7 ~. IN
The three executioners grinned sardoni-
cally at this question, so We asked f-i.F
day ?" -, r5}5j NJ! - u. -
II have chopped twenty heads of myself
in two minutes. Seethat dnrk-looking place
on the ground over there-that's caused by
the blood of the last batch We had ri :
"What is done with the bodies?"
1.-THE friends take tho bodies away, but
We keep the heads in the crooks over BY the
wall there, and when We have large num-
Der which are no geridentifablc, We bury
them. Would you like to see some Of the
heads?' e. ,7s=5. Ijlss lel; lsijyI7 i
We declined, and one Of my companions
began to grow pale, and complain of not
feeling well. so We ordered the guide to lead
us away. ,ts $50 * s.,.5
Gentlemen, give twenty cents each, cum
shaw, to the executioncrs," said the guide,
which we gladly did to escape from the star
ing Of the boss butchers swivel eye; and SO
ended our interview with these high cxecu-
TONERS Of thegreat Chinesoempire.y a,se